Bibliography: pages 88-89. / In South Africa at present, one in 32 women develop breast cancer during their lives. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among females. The biomedical prognosis for breast cancer patients is good provided that the cancer is detected early and that patients comply to biomedical treatments. However, over 80% of African breast cancer patients abscond from the Oncology and Radiotherapy Departments at Groote Schuur Hospital each year. These patients are usually only seen again in the terminal stages, when they seek pain control from the hospital. The biomedical literature refers to this phenomenon of absconding but does not explore the cultural and social factors that may determine African women's decision to abscond. This study looks at the variables effecting absconding, by focusing on the cultural, social and economic contexts, in which African breast cancer patients choose to abscond ยท from biomedical treatments. The research was conducted within the methodological framework of social anthropology.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/20450 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Wright, Sonya Vivien |
| Contributors | Boonzaaier, Emile |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Humanities, Social Anthropology |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | application/pdf |
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